Re: Discussion: What's "wrong" with SJ?

Paul Westermeyer wrote:
>
> >At one point, I was a big fan of reducing helm costs by a factor of ten or
> >so. However, examination of the economic potential of helms
> >(cargo-hauling) convinced me that the prices listed probably are fair
> >approximations of the going rate on helms. I get upwards of 40,000 gp
> >income per year hauling cargoes with a minor helm (using the Merchant kit,
> >and my own parameters on port density and expenses for crew, etc.).
>
> I always felt that helms needed to be both cheaper, and more expensive:)
> They need to be cheap enough to be fairly common, yet expensive enough to
> be not _too common_.  They also needed more variety in what size vessels
> they could power.

	Agreed.  One of SJ's biggest problems was that it is very, very
difficult to "control" the economics of an SJ game, especially with
small groups.  Capture a fair sized ship and you're rolling in the
gold.  Even using "used" prices for helms in _Sea of Sorrows_, money can
rack up quickly.  Divided between many characters it isn't so bad, but
fewer players can be rolling in dough.
	At the same time, it is easy to see why helms cost so much, as it is,
in essense, a warp nassel or star drive.  Given it allows intersteller
travel both quickly and effeciently, the price is a bargain.
	BTW: does anyone know why it costs so much to repair spelljammers?  2k
per hull point seems awefully high, considering it only takes 50 gp
worth of lumber and maybe 10 gp for labor, what is the deal?  Is rent
for space 1970 gp per day or something?  Any ideas why this is so high?
Don't mind it *too* much, but I'd rather like to have at least some
explination as to why this is so high.

 I solved the problem by adding different types of helms,
> "Arcane" helms which were standard helms, and then just "helms" which were
> created using the priest or mage Create Helm spells combined with
> permanancy.  These "created" helms were cheaper, and more common, but had
> the tonnage limits listed under the spell description.  I also made the
> helms much more fragile, they still save versus magical effects on a 2, but
> versus physical attacks they use the standard item saving throw tables.  I
> also ruled that transfering helms was a tricky process, which required a
> saving throw versus crushing blow for the chair when it was removed from a
> vessel outside a shipyard.  To keep players from just "risking" it, I added
> a rule that whenever a helm is destroyed, it becomes the center for 1d6
> wildsurges (this also allows for spectacular ship death scenes, since the
> helm of a ship reduced to 0 Hull Points almost always fails its crushing
> blow save and becomes the center of a wild surge storm:))
>
	As we 'Jammers have learned, this can be nasty (wet minotaurs STINK!:)

> For those interested in hearing more, its in my SJ Players primer, which is
> on Statics Beyond the Moons site, I believe:)

	Sorry Paul, but we fried, boiled, and toasted it while you weren't
looking!  Bahahahahaha!!!:)
--
Night Druid